Having Him Back
by VampireDiariesloverrr
Summary: Stefan returns from Klaus. But what if it isn't the perfect romantic reunion Elena had in mind?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey Guys! Here's my new story! Sorry that it took me so long to come up with a new one but I had to get some ideas. A lot of you asked for a sequel of _Just A Normal Night Or Not? _and I promise there will come a sequel but not yet. For now I just wanted to write something completely different and let Elena and Stefan face another rough period. Enjoy!**

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><p><em>Dear diary,<em>

_All these days I've been dreaming about Stefan, wishing and praying for him to come back and now he did. Even though Damon promised me that he would find him and bring him back to me I didn't dare to hope. What if he didn't find him or what if he didn't want to be with me anymore? I just didn't dare to hope. Still I had this image in my mind of what our reunion would look like. Stefan and me embraced in a tight hug afraid to ever let the other go. Our first kiss and our first night together after he came back, it was all more than perfect in my head. But when Damon came home this morning after looking for Stefan for at least a month, the whole image I had in mind turned upside down. This is what happened..._

I had been laying on my bed for quite a long time when I heard the front door being unlocked. That night I had finally been able to get some sleep.

Every night since Stefan was gone I had been haunted with nightmares of Stefan ripping someone's throat out or him being killed by Klaus or a werewolf. Sometimes it were good dreams like Stefan and me being together and it seemed so real that when I woke up I expected him to be laying next to me. But he wasn't and that's why I started counting those dreams as nightmares too. They made me feel so happy because it looked so real and then it wasn't. There were some times I even thought those dreams were worse that the real nightmares.

After those dreams I would find myself crying almost the whole day and I would cry myself to sleep the following night because I didn't want to go to sleep. I didn't want to be confronted with those nightmares again.

Last night's dream was different. Stefan and I were out on the beach together and spent the whole day there peacefully. It wasn't a dream like the other dreams of us, no, with this one I actually knew I was dreaming. So when I woke up this morning and I looked at the clock I realised I had been sleeping for nearly twelve hours. I really must have had a lack of sleep.

So when I heard the front door being unlocked and opened, I stood up and walked over to the door of my bedroom. Well, actually it was Stefan's bedroom but I was beginning to think of it as my own. I had been sleeping there every night since he left because somehow being and sleeping in his bedroom made me feel close to him.

When I was about to open the door and walk downstairs Damon appeared in front of me and blocked my way. I looked him up and down and threw my arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

'Damon!', I exclaimed, 'why didn't you call me last night? You promised to call me _every_ night. I thought something bad happened to you.'

Damon and I had agreed that he would call me every night to update me on his search for Stefan when he left. Sometimes he didn't call and then he would call me in the early morning to apologise. He always had some sort of excuse that he had been too busy to call or that he had accidentally fallen asleep.

So when he didn't call last night I couldn't sleep at first, thinking something bad might have happened to him, but then I thought of the nights he didn't call either and quickly drifted off to sleep. It's not that I didn't care about him I just thought it was best to wait for him to call me in the morning and if he didn't call me then I would really start to worry.

This morning he didn't call but I figured he just wanted to surprise me by suddenly coming back.

'I wanted to surprise you', he answered, hugging me back tightly.

I pulled away and that's when I noticed his torn clothes with blood on them.

'Damon, what happened?', I asked starting to feel worried.

'Erm... Elena, I think you should come downstairs with me,' he said and looked me in the eyes with a serious expression.

I nodded and I walked downstairs with Damon following close behind me.

This must be bad, I thought, really bad. What could be so bad that he had to look so serious and that I had to come downstairs?

'The living room', Damon said when I had reached the bottom of the stairs and I walked to the living room.

Just when I was about to enter the living room Damon grabbed my shoulders and turned me around.

'Elena, I want you to know that I really did my best to find him and bring him back to you and-'

He didn't get to finish the sentence because I had already freed myself from his grip and ran into the living room.

And there he was. Stefan. Sitting on the couch and staring straight ahead. He didn't even turn his head to face me when I ran in when he obviously must have heard me and Damon coming.

I felt tears forming in my eyes and ran over to Stefan to hug him. I expected him to stand up but he didn't so I threw myself in his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck. My legs were straddling him and I buried my head in his shoulder.

'Stefan', I managed to get out between the sobs that escaped my body. I couldn't hold back my tears anymore and they started to flow freely.

I don't know when I realised something was off about our hug but when I did I immediately knew what it was. He wasn't hugging me back. I pulled a little away from him but not letting him go completely, afraid that he would disappear again.

'Stefan?', I asked and saw that he wasn't looking at me at all and probably hadn't even looked at me since I entered the room. He was still staring straight ahead.

'Stefan?', I asked again when he didn't respond and placed both of my hands on his cheeks, 'What's wrong?'

'Yeah, ermm, Elena, that's what I was trying to tell you. He doesn't respond to anything. I think he might be in shock', Damon said and I turned my head to look at him.

'In shock?', I asked finding it hard to believe because I never thought it possible for a vampire to be in shock.

Damon nodded and I felt the tears burning in my eyes again.

'Oh my God, what happened to him?', I wondered and clasped my hand over my mouth while still sitting in his lap, my other hand stroking his hair.

'I don't know exactly', Damon answered, 'but it must have been terrible. I thought that when I would get him home and back to you he would get out of this state but apparently I was wrong. I just hope that one day he will'.

I saw Damon look down and I knew that he was hurt. It hurt him to see his younger brother like this. And what probably even hurt more was that he thought it was all because of him. Stefan had done all this to safe him.

'Damon, I'm sure he's going to be okay, I promise', I said trying to be strong for him and hoping it was really true.

He nodded again and I turned back to look at Stefan who still hadn't changed his position.

'I think I'm going to take him upstairs and let him get some rest, maybe even shower him but I think he'd better sleep first.'

I stood up and took his hand in mine, hoping he would react to that and stand up but he didn't. Damon came over to help me get him to stand up and I placed his arm over my shoulder, supporting him while leading him up to our room.

When we got into our room I gently lay him down on the bed and looked at him, hoping that all this movement might make him stop staring straight ahead and make him look at me but it didn't.

I unbuttoned his shirt and took it off. Then I took off his shoes and pants as well and pulled the blanket over him. I lay down in bed next to him, not taking my eyes away from him. I leaned in and placed a soft kiss on his forehead and when I pulled back I saw that his eyes had shifted to look at me.

'Stefan?', I asked but he didn't respond. He just kept staring at me. I sighed in defeat.

'Goodnight Stefan', I whispered and placed another kiss on his forehead.

I lay down again with my head resting on his chest and when I looked up I saw that he was still staring at the place where my face had just been.

That little spark of happiness that I had felt when his eyes turned to my face disappeared because now I didn't know if he had just shifted his eyes to look into a different direction or that he really had been looking at me.

I closed my eyes and even though he was in shock I felt happy because he was back. Back in my arms where he belonged.

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><p><strong>Please review and tell me what you think! Thank You!<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! I'm so so sorry it took me so long to update. I know it's no excuse but I've been really busy with school and work. I promise I'll try to update more often. **

**Thanks for your reviews and for adding this story to your Favourite Story's or your Story Alerts. Oh and thank you for the ones who added me to their list of Favourite Authors!**

**I won't hold you guys up any longer. Enjoy!**

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><p>When I woke up the next morning I felt Stefan's arms wrapped around me. I sighed, feeling happy that he was back and that we could finally be together again. But then I remembered what had happened yesterday. Or maybe it was better to say what had <em>not <em>happened yesterday.

Stefan hadn't responded to me, it had seemed like he didn't even know that I was there. When I had hugged him, he hadn't hugged me back, when I had tried to get him to stand up and get him to our room, he didn't give.

So now I was actually surprised to feel one of his arms wrapped around my waist. I turned my head to look up at him and found that his eyes were closed. That was another thing to surprise me since last night he had only been staring straight ahead.

Well, there was one second I thought he was out of his shocked state when he was staring at me, but when I shifted my position and looked up at him and saw that he was still staring at the spot I had just been, my hope had faded.

I shifted my position so that I could get a better look at him but made sure that his arm was still wrapped around my waist. I was afraid that if I lost that contact with him, this would all turn out to be a dream. That in reality this was one of those nightmares where everything seemed so real and that when I lost the contact with him I would wake up and he would be gone.

I stretched my arm out to gently stroke his cheek and pressed a soft kiss on his forehead. I pulled back to look at him again and saw his eyelids flutter open.

This was it. This was the moment. Would he still be in shock? Would he look at me or would he just pick up where he left off last night and continue to stare straight ahead?

I concentrated on his face when he slowly woke up. I saw his eyes shifting towards me as soon as he opened his eyes and I let out a breath I didn't realise I had been holding.

'Good morning', I said and felt happiness rush through my whole body when his arm kept his place around my waist. I don't know why but somehow I had expected him to take his arm away from me as soon as he would wake up.

I looked at him in anticipation, waiting for him to say it back. He didn't. I leaned in and pressed a soft kiss on his lips but he didn't kiss me back. He didn't respond at all.

I sighed in frustration and the happiness I had felt a moment ago disappeared nearly as fast as it had come.

I sat up hoping that might get something out of him. Usually, before he left with Klaus, that would make him pull me back down into his arms and he wouldn't let go of me for as long as he wanted.

Now he didn't respond. Again. I felt his arm slipping of my waist and tried to hold back my tears which was really hard.

'Maybe something to eat will do him good', I thought to myself and decided to get us some breakfast. I stood up and sighed again when I saw that he was still staring at the same spot he had been staring at since he woke up.

'I'm going to get us some breakfast', I said and kissed his forehead.

I walked out of our room and down the stairs into the kitchen. I sat down on one of the kitchen chairs and buried my face in my hands. I decided making breakfast could wait for a minute and I let the tears flow. I had been holding them since last night trying to look strong for Stefan.

Within a minute I was shaking uncontrollably from all the sobbing. The tears just kept coming and I couldn't do anything to stop it. This was really not what I thought my reunion with Stefan would be like. Of course I had thought that maybe it would be hard, because of the blood and stuff but this was clearly not what I had expected it to be like. We would have been able to live through the blood problem and we would be happy to be back together. But how could I be happy now? Now that he was in shock and I had no idea how to get him out of it? Of course I was happy that he was back but how did I know that he was? He didn't respond to anything I did. It seemed like he was living in a completely different world.

I felt someone pull me up from the chair I was on and felt strong arms wrapping themselves around my body. I knew it was Damon from the way he held me and I buried my face in his chest, crying and sobbing even harder if that was possible.

He didn't say anything. He just held me tight and kept drawing soothing circles on my back. I looked up at him with the tears streaming down my face.

'He – He...', I tried to say but I couldn't get any words out.

'Shh, it's okay, everything will be okay, Elena', Damon said and he stroked my hair.

I buried my face in his chest again and Damon just held me tighter.

I don't know for how long we had been standing there but at one point the tears had stopped. Damon had placed me down on the kitchen chair again and went to sit on the kitchen counter.

'So, he still doesn't respond to anything?', he asked when I had managed to calm myself down. I shook my head.

'No, he is still in shock. I've tried so many thing to get him out of it and when I woke up this morning his arm was wrapped around my waist and his eyes were closed. I thought it was a good thing that he was sleeping and had moved by himself. When he woke up his eyes immediately shifted to my face and I thought he was out of that terrible state but no. Right now he's probably still staring at that same spot.'

Damon didn't respond to that. He was probably just as worried as I was and didn't know what to say so I decided to continue.

'I went downstairs to make some breakfast for us but I just couldn't fight the tears anymore'

'You know what? You just stay put there and I'll make breakfast for you and Stefan'

'Thanks, Damon', I said and smiled at him. He stood up and came to stand in front of me again.

'Hey, come here', he said and I wrapped my arms around him again, hugging him tightly. I pulled away and wiped the fresh tears away with the sleeve of my shirt.

Half an hour later Damon handed me over the tray with breakfast for Stefan and I. He had made our favourite breakfast, pancakes. I thanked him again and walked upstairs. Just when I was about to open the door to our bedroom Damon appeared in front of me again.

I nearly dropped the tray with food but Damon managed to steady me before it could slip out of my hands.

'I forgot this', he said and placed a cup with blood on the tray. I looked up at him.

'He will need it and Elena, I'm not sure if he's going to eat but please try to get him to drink this. Force it down his throat if you have to. He needs it to get his strength back. It's animal blood, if you were wondering. Good luck'

With that he disappeared again and I opened the door to our bedroom. My eyes immediately went to Stefan as I entered the room and I saw that he was looking at the door, at me. I felt guilty from the moment I realised that he had probably been looking at the door the whole time, waiting for me to come back. I smiled at him and sat down on the bed placing the tray with food between us. I looked down at the pancakes and when I looked up again I saw that his eyes had shifted from the door to the tray of food. When I looked better I saw that he was looking at something in particular. The cup with blood.

I took the cup with blood from the tray and held it out to him.

'Here, drink this', I said and waited for him to take the cup from my hand.

I waited a few seconds but when he didn't move at all I helped him up a bit and held the cup to his lips. I smiled when I saw him open his mouth and I poured the blood in his mouth. His eyes were concentrated on the cup I was holding and when he finished it his eyes shifted to me.

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><p><strong>Oh oh, what will happen now? Will Stefan finally respond and say something or will he go for Elena's neck? Please review and tell me what you think!<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**How come I have to keep apologizing to you guys! I try to update everytime but I'm in my exam year so I don't have enough time to write and I really feel bad about that. I also feel bad about this chapter, it's not how I wanted it but no matter how I tried I couldn't make it any better. At least I hope you'll like it a bit. And I promise next chapter will be more Stelena.**

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><p><em>Previously...<em>

_I took the cup with blood from the tray and held it out to him. _

'_Here, drink this', I said and waited for him to take the cup from my hand. _

_I waited a few seconds but when he didn't move at all I helped him up a bit and held the cup to his lips. I smiled when I saw him open his mouth and I poured the blood in his mouth. His eyes were concentrated on the cup I was holding and when he finished it his eyes shifted to me._

I smiled, happy that he had drunk the blood so he could get back some of his strength. I looked at him and saw that he was staring at me. But something was off about his stare. It was not the same as he had done since he came back. At first I didn't know what it was but when I saw him leaning a bit closer to me I knew.

His stare wasn't blank like it used to be since he came home, no, it was filled with hunger and lust. Before I knew it I saw his veins appear around his eyes and his sharp teeth were showing. I tried to back off, scared of him being like this, but he was too fast.

He grabbed my head and leant forward, penetrating the skin of my neck with his teeth. I screamed when I felt the pain and tried to push him away but he was too strong. I tried to relax so it would be less painful. Well, I hoped that it would be less painful but it didn't work. I kept screaming until I felt my throat go sore. I gave up and noticed my vision getting blurry. I felt darkness taking over and I gave in.

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><p>When I woke up from unconsciousness I saw that Damon had Stefan pinned against the wall and that he was injecting him with vervain.<p>

'Damon', I managed to get out when I saw Stefan sink down against the wall. Damon turned around and rushed over to me.

'Elena, are you okay? I'm so sorry. If I hadn't gone out I would have heard you scream and could have gotten him off of you before he nearly sucked you dry', he said with concern written all over his face.

'I-I'm fine', I said trying to get up but falling back down immediately. I felt dizzy but Damon caught me in time for me to hit my head on the ground.

He lifted me up in his arms and placed me down on the bed. I brought my hand to my neck where Stefan had bitten me and felt dried blood. I looked at my hand covered in blood and that's when the shock hit me. Slowly I began sobbing and Damon sat down next to me on the bed and took me in his arms.

'Shh, 'Lena, it'll be all right', he shushed and held me tight against him.

I cried until I couldn't cry anymore and lifted my head up from his chest. When my gaze landed on Stefan, who was still unconscious on the floor, I swallowed hardly and wiped away my tears.

'How long will he be out?', I asked him while looking up at him.

'Half an hour give or take but I could always give him another dose, so he'll stay out for at least another hour. If that makes you feel better?'

'No, it's fine, I'll have to face him some time anyway so why not in half an hour?', I answered, trying to be strong.

'Are you sure?', he asked and I nodded.

'Okay, then let me get a washcloth for you so I can wash away the blood from your neck. I'll get a bandage as well. It will make it less tempting for him when he wakes up I hope'

He stood up from the bed and somehow I felt less safe without him close. It's not that I didn't trust Stefan anymore but I guess I was still a little shaken about what had just happened. But then, who could blame me? He had just bitten me, nearly sucked me dry, and that kind of scared me. What if Damon hadn't come home in time to save me? Would Stefan have stopped anyway or would he really have sucked me dry?

My thought were interrupted with Damon walking back in from the bathroom. I gave him a weak smile and sat up a bit. He gently cleaned my neck and placed the bandage on the wound. All the while he kept looking at me, making sure that I was okay and that I wasn't going to pass out again.

When he was finished I decided to ask him what I had wanted to ask him from the moment he came home and I saw his torn clothes.

'Damon?', I began.

'Yes?'

'Can I ask you something?'

'Sure'

'What happened the day you brought Stefan back? Your clothes were torn and covered in blood. What happened?', I shifted so I could look at him and saw sadness written on his face. He took a deep breath and turned his head towards me. I nodded in encouragement for him to tell me.

'You remember how I called you every night, telling you that I still hadn't found him but that I was following a lead?', I nodded.

'Well, that night before we came back home and I didn't call you, I had just found them. I had been observing him and Klaus the whole day and was trying to figure out a way to get Stefan away from him. When I saw the hold Klaus had over Stefan, I didn't know if there even was a way. Stefan was like his little minion. He did everything Klaus told him to do. It was terrible to see and to think that it was all my fault. If I hadn't been bitten by Tyler...'

'Damon, we have been over that for a million times, it is not your fault, so don't start again, please just continue', I said breaking him off.

'Okay, well, I knew that that night was a full moon again and I knew that Klaus could transition whenever he wanted, but during that day I had picked up that every time that there was a full moon, he had to transition. So I waited till the full moon came up and decided that it was now or never. When he was at his weakest moment, in transition, I showed myself and began to fight him. At first Stefan was completely shocked with me being there but soon he began to help. We both fought Klaus and I managed to rip his heart out. After that we burned his body, just to make sure that he was really dead. I had been staring in the flames for a while when I noticed Stefan sitting on the ground with his knees pulled up to his chest and his arms wrapped around his legs. I went over to him and tried to talk to him but it didn't work, so I decided to just take him home to you and hoped that that would help... You know the rest', he finished.

'Oh my God, Damon', was all I could say and I wrapped my arms around him.

He took my hand and squeezed it and I saw relieve flashing across his face. He was probably just glad that it was off his chest.

'So he's really dead?', I whispered.

'Yes, he's dead', he answered and I nodded.

I felt really happy that he was dead and that we could finally stop worrying about Klaus and that we could everything with him leave behind us.

Damon and I sat like that for a while until we heard Stefan wake up. Subconsciously I felt myself tense a bit. Damon noticed and he squeezed my hand. He stood up and went over to Stefan. Stefan was just trying to get up and took everything in around him. When I saw him looking at me I stiffened and he saw. A look of pain and guilt crossed his face and I let out a breath. He wasn't going to hurt me again. Damon saw what was going on between us and walked back to me.

'I'm going to my room. Just call if you need me', he told me and I knew that with 'need' he also meant 'if he's trying to hurt you again'. I nodded in response and he left the room.

Stefan slowly walked over to me and kept looking at me, making sure that it was okay that he was coming closer. That was when I realised that he was out of his shocked state. He didn't stare straight ahead anymore and he moved a lot out of himself. He kept coming closer until he stood in front of me and kneeled down to the ground.

'I'm so sorry, Elena', he said, his eyes filled with guilt. It were the first words he said to me since he came back. It were not the words I expected him to say when he came back but it was okay. From the look on his face I could see that he really meant it.

He took my hand and kissed it. I smiled at him but was still a bit worried. I knew that he hadn't meant to hurt me and that he really was sorry but what if he just couldn't control himself and it went out of hand again. What if he was going to bite me again? I looked at him and saw that he had his head hanging down.

I took a deep breath and decided to shove my worries away. If it would happen again Damon would be there and he would help me and I had to start trusting Stefan again. I loved him, which meant that I had to trust him, right?

I reached out my hand to stroke his face and he looked up. I looked at him and smiled forgivingly. He stood up and leant closer to me. I understood that he wanted to hug me but that he didn't know if that was okay with me. So I did the only thing I could think of and hugged him.


	4. Chapter 4

_Previously..._

_'I'm so sorry, Elena', he said, his eyes filled with guilt. It were the first words he said to me since he came back. It were not the words I expected him to say when he came back but it was okay. From the look on his face I could see that he really meant it._

_He took my hand and kissed it. I smiled at him but was still a bit worried. I knew that he hadn't meant to hurt me and that he really was sorry but what if he just couldn't control himself and it went out of hand again. What if he was going to bite me again? I looked at him and saw that he had his head hanging down._

_I took a deep breath and decided to shove my worries away. If it would happen again Damon would be there and he would help me and I had to start trusting Stefan again. I loved him, which meant that I had to trust him, right?_

_I reached out my hand to stroke his face and he looked up. I looked at him and smiled forgivingly. He stood up and leant closer to me. I understood that he wanted to hug me but that he didn't know if that was okay with me. So I did the only thing I could think of and hugged him._

It felt so good to finally hold him again. Of course I had held him before since he came back but then he hadn't responded to it. Now he did. He hold my tightly against him while stroking my back.

I started sobbing and Stefan pulled away from me immediately.

'Elena, I'm so sorry for what I did', he said and looked down, feeling ashamed.

'It's okay, Stefan. I understand why it happened', I tried to reassure him. I really did understand why it happened, though, and I felt stupid. Stupid that I hadn't thought about it that it might be hard for him to control his bloodlust after drinking the animal blood with me being in the same room. What didn't help either, was that he had been on human blood for at least four months.

'No, Elena, it's not okay! I nearly killed you and now you're afraid of me', he burst out angrily but I could see in his eyes that he felt ashamed and disgusted with himself.

'I'm not afraid of you! Why would you think that?', I said, starting to get a bit frustrated with him being so hard for himself.

'If you aren't afraid of me, then why are you crying?'

'You think that's why I'm crying? You think I'm crying because you bit me? Well, Stefan, that's not why I'm crying! I'm just so glad that you're back, and I mean really back, not in that terrible state you've been in the last few days!', I screamed with tears rolling down my cheeks.

I looked at him and saw that he was confused. It was written all over his face and he probably didn't know what to do or say. So I decided to continue.

'I missed you, Stefan, so much. These last four month have been a hell for me. It felt like I was dead but my body was still alive. Damon was there for me, of course, but it was not enough. I needed you. And my friends, they understood that I missed you, but when they found out about what you were doing with Klaus, they found it hard to understand why I would still want to be with you. Do you want to know what I said every time when they asked me that? I always told them that it was because I loved you'

Tears were streaming down my face by the time I finished. Stefan took a few steps closer to me and held his arms out for me. I accepted the invitation and ran straight into his arms. He stroked my hair while I buried my face in his chest. He was crying too. We stood like that for what felt like hours until Stefan decided to break the silence.

'I missed you too, so much', he said with his voice shaking from the crying.

I pulled a bit away from him to look up at him and he leaned in to kiss my forehead. I closed my eyes in contentment when he did that.

'Do you want to know what it felt like for me?', he asked and I nodded in agreement.

He took my hand and led me over to the bed where we sat down. He intertwined our fingers and took a deep breath before he began.

'It was terrible. I didn't want to leave you behind, but I had to. I had to in order to save Damon's live. And maybe it was selfish for me to think that you would be okay with Damon. That he would take good care of you. I should have known that it would not have been enough for you. The part that I hated the most about leaving you, was that you had just lost Jenna and the only parent you had left and now I was leaving you too. I wanted to be there for you but I couldn't. I had to leave with Klaus. I asked him if I could at least go and say goodbye before I had to leave with him but I couldn't.', he took a pause and I squeezed his hand, encouraging him to carry on. He swallowed thickly and continued.

'He forced me to drink human blood, Elena. At first I thought I could take it for I started to build up a tolerance with your blood, but I couldn't. He made me drink too much blood that it didn't work. He made me feed on all those people and I felt terrible. Not just for myself but also for you. Terrible for doing that to you, because I know how you feel about killing people. I thought that if I turned off the switch it would be easier for me to handle, so that's what I did. I tried to turn it off for as much as I could. But every time I had some time for myself, I thought about you. About how you would be doing and if you would be with Damon now that you knew what a monster I had become. When I heard you in the mountains while you were looking for me, I wanted to run to you so badly but I couldn't. I knew that if I did, Klaus would make sure that you would have to pay for that. And when he used his compulsion on me that I had to kill you when the time was up, I was horrified. The look in your eyes, you were so scared of me and of what I would do. It hurt so much but I tried not to show it. Klaus had to believe that I didn't feel anymore. But I did and even when he compelled me to turn it off, I still felt for you. I think that my love for you is so strong that it can overpower any compulsion', he finished and I made my way onto his lap.

I took his face in my hands and looked him in the eyes.

'You're not a monster, Stefan. You just proved that and a real monster doesn't worry about what others will think about him'

He smiled weakly at me and I leaned in to kiss him. It was just a soft kiss, but it was filled with so much love that when we broke apart, we were both breathless.

'I love you, Stefan Salvatore', I managed to get out while trying to catch my breath.

'I love you too, Elena Gilbert', he said and kissed me passionately.

After a long and much needed make out session, we went to cuddle on his bed until sleep took over.

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><p><strong>Sorry that it was so short, but I just wanted to give you guys an update. Hope you liked it, though. Tell me what you think will happen next and if you have any ideas on what should happen next, feel free to share them. I would love to work your ideas out ;)<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

_Previously..._

_I took his face in my hands and looked him in the eyes._

_'You're not a monster, Stefan. You just proved that and a real monster doesn't worry about what others will think about him'_

_He smiled weakly at me and I leaned in to kiss him. It was just a soft kiss, but it was filled with so much love that when we broke apart, we were both breathless._

_'I love you, Stefan Salvatore', I managed to get out while trying to catch my breath._

_'I love you too, Elena Gilbert', he said and kissed me passionately._

_After a long and much needed make out session, we went to cuddle on his bed until sleep took over._

* * *

><p>I woke up to hearing Stefan scream. It was terrible. He was having a nightmare of Klaus.<p>

'No, Klaus, no, please, I can't kill her', he said while I started shaking him to get him to wake up.

'No, no, no! Don't compel me, please, Klaus. Don't'

'Stefan! Wake up!', I said and frantically shook him. He didn't wake up though. I had to do something but what could I do? Damon.

I jumped out of bed and ran to Damon's room, praying to God that he would be home. I ran into his room and found him sleeping in his bed.

'Damon', I said while walking over to him. 'Damon', I said again while shaking him lightly. I noticed him shifting and his eyes opened.

'Elena, what are you...', he was cut off by Stefan screaming.

'What's going on?', he asked and I shook my head.

'I don't know. He's having a nightmare and I tried to wake him up but he wouldn't so I came to ask you for help'

Damon quickly got out of bed and vampire sped to Stefan's room. I followed him at human speed. When I reached Stefan's room, I saw Damon shaking Stefan but he still wouldn't wake up.

'What's wrong with him, Damon?', I asked, looking down at Stefan.

'I don't know', he said with a worried look on his face.

We had been trying to wake Stefan up for 5 minutes but nothing worked. We had screamed, shaken him and thrown water at him but he would not wake up. Then Damon turned to look at me with an expression I did not quite like.

'You're not going to like what I'm going to say to you', he said.

'What is it?'

'Since he won't wake up maybe we will have to try it the hard way'

'The hard way? You mean, by-by hurting him?'

'Yes, Elena, that's exactly what I mean'

'No, we can't hurt him. He's been through so much already'

'We have to, Elena. We have to try. We can't let him be like this for the next few hours!', he tried to convince me while slowly raising his voice.

'Fine! What do you suggest?'

'Vervain'

'No, no way. I'm not going to hurt him with vervain', it was no use though because he was already out the door to go get some vervain.

When he returned with the vervain in his hand, his own hand covered with a glove, I walked over to him and took the vervain from him.

'I'll do it', I said. I wanted to do it myself so at least I could try and do it gently. While walking over to Stefan, who was still screaming, Damon took my hand and squeezed it lightly as a way of comfort. I took a deep breath and held the vervain against his outstretched arm.

He started to scream even louder but it worked. Almost immediately to when the vervain touched his skin, he sat up straight. He turned to look at his arm where the vervain had burned him. He saw my hand holding the vervain close to his arm and made his way up my arm to my face with his eyes.

He stared at me and his eyes were filled with confusion and hurt. Then his eyes fell on my other hand that was still in Damon's. I quickly let go of Damon's hand and turned to look at him.

'I can handle it from here. Thank you, Damon', I said to him and he nodded.

'You're welcome', he said before leaving.

I waited for him to leave the room before I walked around the bed and went to sit on my own side, sitting up against the headboard. As Stefan did the same I turned my head towards him. He was looking at me and I could see in his eyes that he was really hurt. I immediately felt guilty.

'What was that all about?', he asked with anger sipping through his voice, 'why did you burn me and why were you and Damon holding hands? Why? Is it because you love him instead of me?', his voice was filled with hatred and I saw that he was trying to fight back tears. He failed though, one single tear made its way down his face.

I took his face in my hands and wiped it away with my thumb. He turned his eyes in another direction, trying not to look at me.

'Stefan, look at me', I said and when he did I continued.

'You had a nightmare about Klaus. I woke up by hearing you scream and I tried to wake you up but you didn't so I went to get Damon. Together we tried everything to wake you up. We even threw water at you, that's why your hair is wet, but that didn't help either. The only solution we could come up with was to hurt you. I really didn't want to but there was no other way. So Damon went to get some vervain but I decided that I wanted to be the one to do it. Damon was trying to comfort me while doing it and that is why he was holding my hand. And yes, I love him, but as a brother. I'm in love with you, Stefan.'

'I'm sorry, Elena', he said when I finished, 'first I wake you up with my screaming and then I go all accusing on you before I have even given you the chance to explain'

'It's okay, Stefan. I understand'

I leaned over to him and hugged him. Feeling his arms wrap around my waist and pulling me closer I smiled. I pulled away a little bit and gave him a soft kiss on his lips. He smiled and I kissed him again.

'Let's go back to sleep', I said suddenly feeling really tired again.

'Sounds like a good plan', he said while I yawned.

We both lied down and I felt Stefan pull me as close to him as possible. I sighed, feeling happy to be this close to him again.

'Goodnight, 'Lena'

' 'night, Stefan'

'Love you', he said and he started to slowly stroke my hair.

'Love you too', I mumbled while drifting away already. He always managed to do that to me when he was stroking my hair. 'Tomorrow, I'll take him some place nice', I thought to myself. He could use a rest, just the two of us, like before he had gone with Klaus. I drifted off to sleep and thought about where I could take him.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry for it being so short, but I really had difficulty writing this chapter and continueing the story. I really did not know what to write but for the next chapter I know. I hope you enjoyed reading the long lasted update even though I think it's really bad.<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

_We both lied down and I felt Stefan pull me as close to him as possible. I sighed, feeling happy to be this close to him again._

_'Goodnight, 'Lena'_

_' 'night, Stefan'_

_'Love you', he said and he started to slowly stroke my hair._

_'Love you too', I mumbled while drifting away already. He always managed to do that to me when he was stroking my hair. 'Tomorrow, I'll take him some place nice', I thought to myself. He could use a rest, just the two of us, like before he had gone with Klaus. I drifted off to sleep and thought about where I could take him._

The following morning when I woke up I noticed that Stefan was still asleep. I smiled to myself when I saw him peacefully sleeping and stroked his hair. The rest of the night, after his nightmare, I tried to think of places where we could go and what we could do which I found really difficult. It had to be someplace special since it would be our first date again after everything that happened with Klaus. I wanted it to be special for him, for us.

I decided to go out of bed and go downstairs, but it wasn't that easy. Stefan had his arms wrapped tightly around me and I didn't want to wake him up. Carefully I lifted up his arm and got out of his embrace. I silently tiptoed out of the room and when I reached the door I turned around to see that he was still sleeping.

Slowly I walked down the stairs and straight to the kitchen where I some noises were coming from. Damon was busy preparing my favourite breakfast which made me smile. Damon and I had bonded over the time that Stefan was gone. When Stefan was still here we were already close but the whole mess with Klaus, Damon almost dying and Stefan having to leave to save his life really brought us together. He was there for me as a friend and I was there for him. We needed each other while trying to deal with the absence of the one person we both needed the most, couldn't live without.

'I was just making breakfast for us all', he said when he noticed me standing there and watching him.

I smiled and walked over to one of the kitchen chairs and sat down.

'Damon, can I ask you something?'

'Sure, anything, 'Lena'

'I want to take Stefan out for a date, a picnic, but I don't know where to go. I mean I do have an idea but I'm not sure if that's really a good idea'

I explained to Damon that I wanted to take him to the waterfalls where he took me just before the sacrifice. The one thing that made me worry about it though was that that had been one of the lasts moments that Stefan and I had been together before he had to leave with Klaus. I was afraid that it would bring back some bad memories that could ruin the whole date. It could bring up some emotions that I'd rather keep hidden just below the surface. I also was afraid that Stefan wouldn't be able to handle it and that he might go back into that terrible state of shock.

'Don't worry about it, 'Lena, I'm sure it will be okay. I think it might even be a good thing to go there. Maybe it will help you both to move on and put what happened behind you'

I got up from my chair and walked over to him to hug him.

'Thank you, Damon. I really needed that.'

'You're welcome', he smiled at me and turned his attention back to our breakfast. I turned around and made my way back up the stairs.

'Breakfast will be ready in five minutes', Damon screamed from the kitchen.

When I entered our bedroom, I noticed that Stefan was still asleep. I walked over to the bed and lay down beside him. Softly stroking his hair from his forehead I decided it was time to wake him up. I kissed him softly on his lips and watched how he slowly woke up.

'Morning love', I told him.

'Morning beautiful', he responded which made me smile instantly.

'How are you feeling? Did you sleep well for the rest of the night? No more nightmares?'

'I'm good, thanks, and no more nightmares', he smiled while answering my questions.

'Good'

'You worry too much about me'

'Do you think that's strange after all you've been through?', I asked while looking a bit confused.

'No, of course not love, but you don't have to worry about me, I will be fine'

He stroked my cheek and pressed his lips to my forehead. I sighed and wrapped my arms around him, bringing him as close to me as possible. He rolled us over so he was on top of me and kissed me like there was no tomorrow. I moaned when his lips left mine to make their way down to my earlobe.

'I missed you so much', I whispered.

'I missed you too, so much'

I ran my hands through his hair and down his back while he found his way back to my lips. Somewhere in the middle of our make out session, I suddenly remembered Damon telling me that breakfast would be ready in five minutes which meant that we were now at least ten minutes late. I groaned and softly pushed Stefan away from me. He looked at me with confusion written all over his face.

'Did I do something wrong?', he asked me.

'No, no, of course not. I just suddenly remembered that breakfast was ready ten minutes ago', I answered which made him look even more confused.

'Damon made us breakfast', I explained, 'you were sleeping so peacefully when I woke up that I decided not to wake you up when I wanted to go downstairs to uh... to get something to drink', I quickly covered when I noticed my mistake of almost telling him why I went downstairs.

'When I came downstairs Damon was already making us breakfast and when I went back upstairs he told me that breakfast would be ready in five minutes which is now ten minutes ago'

'Well then, let's go get breakfast', he said and I was glad that he hadn't noticed my slip.

He picked me up in his arms bridal style making me giggle. We made our way down the stairs and into the kitchen like that where Damon was waiting for us.

'Glad that you two finally decided to join me for breakfast', Damon said with a smirk on his face when he saw us coming into the room.

'Sorry brother, but we were busy', Stefan told him while winking at me.

I giggled when he put me down on a chair and took a seat beside me.

'So what are you two lovebirds going to do today?', Damon asked while I gave him a warning glare, not wanting him to spoil anything about what I had planned.

'I don't know. Maybe we will just stay in bed all day', Stefan answered with a mischievous smile on his face. I blushed and kicked him under the table.

'Ouch! What was that for, Miss Gilbert?'

'Like you don't know'

'I think someone needs a bit of punishment', Stefan said while growling at me and starting to tickle me. I couldn't keep my laughter in and it didn't take long for the tears to start rolling down my face.

'Stop stop, Stefan! Please, stop!', I begged him.

'Okay, enough, you two. Stop playing and start eating your breakfast', Damon piped in and I smiled at him, being thankful for saving me.

'Yes, Dad', Stefan responded and we both began eating our breakfast.

Once we finished breakfast Stefan announced that he was going to take a shower. I nodded and told him that I was going to help Damon clean up breakfast. Stefan looked at me with pleading eyes and asked me to join him in the shower. I refused and explained to him that I couldn't leave Damon alone with all this mess. It wasn't that I didn't want to shower with him, I just wasn't ready yet. I wanted us to take things slow after we'd been separated for so long.

'What was that about?', Damon asked me as soon as Stefan was under the shower.

'What do you mean?'

'You know what. You not wanting to take a shower with him'

'Oh, that. Well, I want to but I just want to take things slow after, you know...'

'I understand, Elena'

'And there was something I wanted to ask you which he isn't allowed to hear just yet. It's about the picnic I've planned for today. I wanted to ask you if you could do something for me'

'Of course. What do you need me to do?'

'Could you take him out of the house for a few hours so that I can prepare for the picnic'

'Of course. I'll come up with something'

'Thank you, Damon'

I gave him a hug and walked back up the stairs to Stefan's room smiling to myself.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry for the long wait, but I just couldn't find the time to update and suffered a writers block. Next time will be Stefan and Elena's date.<strong>


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